Sorry for the long wait, a lot of school work popped up out of no where, soon following this was a major writer's block, I have gotten over it finally. As said at the end of the last chapter, there is a special character in this chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Player Phase

Rydrake and the Shadow Knight made quick time through Gallia and into Begion with out much trouble. Within Begion, many of the men seemed to know and respect the mysterious knight.

"By the way, who were you talking about when you said we needed to find others to fight?" Rydrake broke their long silence with this question.

"First, from the Serenes Forest, we seek out Stymphx, a hawk who can gathaer information with his wings, but we cannot count on him in a fight, as he will not fight those who stand no chance against him. Then, we will be bringing along Begion's 17th devision." The Shadow Knight gave his answer without hesitation and certinty.

"So, we are looking for someone who can perform reconnaissance and than to the capital. How do you know that we will be granted permission to use the 17th?"

"Simple, I am the commander of the devision, but during this campaign, they will be under your command, as I am." The Knight responded.

During their second day in the Serenes Forest, the duo came upon a little girl with auburn hair and eyes, surrounded by brigands. "We could probably make some good coin off this one, eh boys?" The one who spoke up was clearly the leader of the men.

Rydrake wasted no time in helping the girl. He quickly pulled out a Thunder tome and took out two of the ten brigands in a single shot. "You're getting better, boy," the Shadow Knight moved in and fell another four of the brigands, "But you still have a long way to go."

Rydrake moved next to the girl to better protect her. He switched tomes, this time to a Fire tome and roasted another brigand. This time, however, his target anticipated his attack. The brigand was able to get his sword through Rydrake's right hand, causing him to drop his tome. Rydrake quickly covered his hand, as if hiding something on it.

"I am Jard, you fools have decided your fate by going against me!" The leader confidently charged Rydrake with his lance ready to pierce Rydrake. The man was too slow. The Shadow Knight put an arrow through Jard's leg, causing him to trip and hit the ground without reaching Rydrake.

"Hmmm...? Hey, are you ok?" The little girl asked Rydrake as he picked up his tome.

"I'll be fine, thank you for asking, but worry more about yourself." The girl looked at Rydrake's hand, hinting that he should be worried more about it than her. Since being cut, Rydrake was hiding his hand from those around him.

"You people are fools, ignoring an opponent while they still live." Jard had begun to stand back up, and stumble towards Rydrake as to keep fighting. Jard readied his lance and attacked Rydrake again, this time though, Rydrake reflexively cast the Thunder spell strait into Jard's head, killing him on the spot. He had reached out with his injured hand to cast the spell.

"Oh, so that's why you weren't worried about your hand." The girl said this so softly that only Rydrake heard her.

"You saw?!" Rydrake seemed scared and stubbled back away form the girl.

"Don't worry, I won't tell your friend here. Thanks for helping me out! I have to go now, my, ummmm... Mother, ya, Mother will probably start worrying if I don't get home soon. Good-bye Begion General, good-bye, young controller of chaos. We will meet again!" The girl quick ran off, before taking the pairs names or giving her own.

"What do you think she meant when she called me 'young controller of chaos?' And who was she anyway?" Rydrake looked to the Shadow Knight for answers, but he had none to give him.

"It doesn't matter right now, we must go and find Stymphx. We will need to head deeper into the forest to do so, we don't have time to waste, come." The Shadow Knight was as calm as always and headed off deeper into the forest.

The pair reached what seemed to look like a town, except all the houses were in the trees and didn't seem to be accessible to humans, but Rydrake could see figures going between the homes in the trees.

"How are they able to get around up there?" Rydrake kept his eyes on the people in the trees trying to find the answer to his question.

"You grew up around the beast tribe laguz, but it seems you haven't heard of the dragon or bird tribes. Look closely at their backs, that is where you will find the answer." The Shadow Knight headed deeper into the village as he spoke to Rydrake, "We came here to find one of the Hawks."

"Wings... So these people are laguz. Noted. We are looking for one named Stymphix, right?" Rydrake was right on the Shadow Knight's heels as the continued to walk.

"Correct, we will find him near the ruins of the original Heron tribe home, where the revival of the forest was carried out, guarding it from those who wish it harm." The Shadow Knight silently signaled for Rydrake to stop and he himself stopped going forward. A young looking laguz with brown wings landed in front of the duo. He spread out his wings as to keep the two from moving on.

"I can not let you pass this point, only those that have the chief's permission may continue to the Ancient Forest," the young laguz showed no sign of changing his stance.

"I see..." The Shadow Knight turned to the city, "Rydrake, stay here, I will go and speak with the chief so we can continue on."

Rydrake waited for about 15 minutes for the Shadow Knight. "I have a note from the chief, may we now pass?" The Shadow Knight handed the guard the note.

The young guard looked at the note he was handed. "Very well, you may pass, but do not harm the forest past this point in any way."

As the pair headed deep into the forest the trees started to look older and weaker than in the town. Most of the trees had very light green leaves, in some cases the leaves were white, brown, or red.

In the deepest part of the forest, the trees looked healthier than anywhere else and were in full bloom throughout the clearing. "Stymphx! Are you here?" The Shadow Knight boomed, braking the silence of the sacred part of the forest.

"Is that the warrior of Begion, clade in black for all time, I hear?" The voice that responded sounded confident and proud.

"It is I, now come out, I have someone I would like you to meet." The Shadow Knight turned to Rydrake and then stepped back.

Down from the trees, a laguz man with brown hair and eyes landed in front of Rydrake. Once Rydrake got a good look at him, he realized that he was as tall as his companion and had golden wings. The man looked over Rydrake for a minute. "So, you are the child who will go to the land of Gods. Very well, I will assist you, but I will not fight unless absolutely necessary. I wish not to kill, only see the path that will bring peace back to our fair land. I am Stymphx, I will lend you my eyes and ears, but not my talons."

"Pleasure to meet you, the Shadow Knight said that I had to go and find the Emblems. I thank you for your help." Rydrake extended his hand and Stymphx shook it.

Again, sorry for the long wait, but here it is, finally! So, I hate to do this to you guys, but since the 13th is being introduced next chapter, I need to take some time to make OCs. During this time, I will only be accepting OCs for the 13th as to get back to work on story ASAP. Anywhere from 5 to 10 new characters will be introduced. Accepting OCs for the 13th but the characters I will need later in the story are still listed below. *Class will be accepted for the 13th

*Cavalier or Paladin

*Archer or Sniper

Nomad or Nomad Ranger

Thief or Rogue

*Wyvern Rider or Wyvern Knight

*Wyvern Rider (yes, again) or Wyvern Lord

*Troubadour or Valkyrie

Cleric of Bishop (will use Light Magic and Staves)

*Mage or Sage (will use Anima Magic and Staves)

Dancer

Bard

Manakete

Villager or Dread Fighter

Please send all OCs to me via PM. This is so that information on your OCs is not stollen or used without your permission.